La Salle Alum Cheryl Reeve Tabbed WNBA Coach of the Year-cnbnews.net
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
PHILADELPHIA - La Salle alum Cheryl Reeve, who was a vital player on the Explorers' 1987-88 nationally ranked women's basketball team, was announced today at the WNBA's Coach of the Year. Reeve led the Minnesota Lynx to the second-largest turnaround in WNBA history and guides her team through the playoffs, which begin tonight against San Antonio.
Reeve received 36 of 40 possible votes by a national panel of sportswriters and broadcasters.
Reeve guided the Lynx to a franchise record 27 wins, finishing with the league's best record at 27-7. The squad opens the playoffs tonight as the No. 1 overall seed. The 27-7 record was the second-biggest biggest one-year turnaround, as the team went 13-21 just a year ago.
Reeve mentored the league's Rookie of the Year, as Maya Moore was announced the award winner earlier today. Her squad also swept the Western Conference Player of the Month honors for all three months of the season, and her team's five Player of the Week awards led the league.
Reeve earns the honor in just her second year at the helm of a professional team. She spent 12 years coaching at the collegiate level, getting her start on the Explorer sideline after her playing years ended. Following her stint as the graduate assistant at La Salle, she became an assistant at George Washington before moving up to the head coaching job at Indiana State. She broke into the professional ranks in 2001 as an assistant in Charlotte, Cleveland and then Detroit until her hiring by the Lynx in December 2009.
Reeve was one of the leaders on the Explorers' 1987-88 squad that went 25-5 and earned a national ranking. That year, she was an All-MAAC and All-Big 5 pick. She holds the school record for most starts in a career (110) and ranks fourth in career assists (420). She was a Rhodes Scholar nominee, MAAC Scholar-Athlete Postgraduate Award recipient and NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship recipient in 1988.
Reeve's squad opens WNBA playoff play when the Lynx host San Antonio tonight at 9 pm Eastern.